I've been trying to track down what is using up most of my computer. I have copied all my photos on to disc and deleted most, emptied the recycle bin, run a defragment, run a disc clean up and file clean up etc etc and am getting a bit stumped really. I have however just come across this (sorry I cant to the clever screenshot thingy so took a photo of my screen). Surely it cant be right for "norton backup" to use this amount of my computer can it ? before I press delete I thought I'd just ask here first to see if anyone knows what has happened here.

@skotl perhaps

Kurt,

From the little I know on comps, Norton backup does use an awful lot. A few years back a friend of a friend ( you know the type! ) recommended a program called Avast Antivirus and I've used that ever since and its never taken a lot of space. If I remember rightly the Norton Backup is literally a backup of the whole system hence the amount used. No doubt however Skotl will be on with his knowledge ( which is second to none that I know of ) very soon

I also use Avast it is a Free antivirus been using on all my computers for years with no problems cheers wolfy

Three programs I use all free is avast anti virus gets most kinds of virus. If you get a virus more stuben use malwarebytes this gets all viruses and malware. Then use ccleaner to keep your pc nice and fast this cleans all the clutter from the system. All can be downloaded from cnet.com download section hope this helps someone

Avast is a decent enough free antivirus product and, if you have that, there's no need to go change it. I use Microsoft Security Essentials, which is also free.

At work we use Macafee and it's a huge pile of poo. The only reason we don't change it is that the annual update is £3k and it would cost us £10k to change it so we stick with it.
I have to say, though, that over the years I have certainly seen both Macafee and Norton cause problems with PCs. If it is your home PC, I'd go with either Avast or Microsoft Security Essentials.

As for Kurt's original post, using 160GB of space does seem unusual. Rather that just go delete that folder, tho, I would; 1) Remove Norton entirely, 2) Remove that folder if it is still there 3) Install Avast or MSE,

*But* using a lot of disk space does not mean your computer will necessarily run slowly - you should be looking at CPU or Memory usage instead. I feel a new how-to coming on... Gimme 15 minutes...

Crikey, it looks you have backed up two years of Norton!!

I too use Avast on one pc at home but do use Norton 360 on my laptop.

I used to use Avira but I got it ran so slow so I gave it up. Whilst Microsoft Essentials does one thing, Avira doesn't and vice versa with one other freebie against the other. Just be aware as you will only get anti-virus and not anti-malware, adware and other etc.

I found with numerous configurations and charts online and there was no definitive program that catered for all of my needs. So I got a 3 license Norton 360 which looked after everything. Its not been bad so far 7 months in. It cost £6.99 of ebay for a years subscription, bankrupt stock. Up to date protection, last years packaging. 2013 download.

I have suffered lots of problems from McAfee where their helpline from the US have had to help me out every year in July when they do a update which has a erroneous file that corrupts Windows 3 yrs running.

Hope these help:

AVG vs Avira vs Avast

Avast Free + Malwarebytes Free

I also use Commodo on the other PC

Commodo

I also use CCleaner and O&O Defrag (free versions) .

Cheers